The World Food Program (WFP) has begun sending food aid to Somalia by truck because of the threat posed by pirates off the Somali coast.

WFP officials say 14 trucks arrived in the town of Wajid on Sunday after a 1,200 kilometer trip from the Kenyan port of Mombasa. They say another three trucks have been delayed, because of breakdowns. A total of 500 metric tons of food is being delivered.

The U.N. food agency had not used road shipments to Somalia for five years because of the cost and danger.

But pirates have attacked numerous ships off the Somali coast, including a World Food Program vessel hijacked earlier this year.